Five is the Magic Number
by UnamedFreak
Summary: Four times Mizuno wanted to tell Kojima how he feels but didn't and the one time he did. Series told in five chapters. Mizuno/Kojima
1. If I win the match

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's Notes: Whistle! needs more love. Story is AU-ish because it takes place after the last episode. Part 1/5.

* * *

**i.**

Mizuno is fifteen when he first realises he has feelings for Kojima.

It started with the funny things that happen to him when she is around; his heart pounds a little harder when she smiles and his throat closes up when she talks to him.

He looks across the soccer field from the game and sees her giving him a thumbs-up; the adrenaline kicked in and he ran until his legs burned after the ball that will decide the outcome of the match.

The score is 0-0, Sakura Jyousui had been stuck in a stalemate for the most of the second half with less than two minutes remaining on the clock.

This match will be their final game of junior high school and he will win it.

_For her._

Sho reached the ball first and crossed it to him. As soon as the ball landed on his feet, Mizuno ran like he'd never run before. In the midst of all the cheering, he could only hear one; _hers_.

"GO Mizuno!"

The blood roared in his ears and he stepped pass one defender, then dribbled through the legs of another one. The third and final defender initiated a sliding tackle but Mizuno sees it from a mile away; he jumps to avoid the studs and quickly gaining control of the ball the moment he lands on his feet.

The goalkeeper; a huge, hulking figure, stands between him and the goal like a brick wall. Mizuno took his one touch on the ball and kicked it with all his might.

The keeper dives and extended his hands to stop the ball, but it curled away at the last minute and hit the net with a sharp swish.

_Peet!_

The shrill sound of the whistle signalled the end of the match but it was drowned out by the cheers of the crowd. His team mates rushed to congratulate him and in an instant, Mizuno is surrounded by everyone he knows; the coach, Oya-san, and even Sho's brother. But he doesn't care for them.

He navigates his way to find Kojima; he wants to tell her with his own words that he won it for her.

"Mizuno!" Her voice stood out from everybody else and Mizuno shoved and pushed through the crowd almost desperately to get to her.

Suddenly he found himself facing the source of the voice and his throat closed up again. He feels her arms envelop him in a tight hug and when they pulled apart, her cheeks were tinged red.

"I…", he swallowed nervously before trying to spit out the words that were forming in his head. Unfortunately, his brain chose that moment to shut down on him.

Mizuno notices that Kojima is looking at him strangely and he is pretty sure it's because his mouth is hanging half open.

"Did you hit your head?" she asked with an amused expression.

He shook his head rapidly and started again, "I…"

Kojima crossed her arms around her chest and looked at him patiently. "Yes?"

"I…won," Mizuno says weakly. He berated himself for being a coward.

Blinking at his statement, she flashed him a brilliant grin and hugged him again, "Ah. You did."

"What are you love-birds doing?" Shige announced loudly when he sees the two of them hugging well away from the crowd. Mizuno frowned at the interruption. Kojima releases him abruptly and chased after the laughing Shige.

She finally catches up with Shige and raps his head with her knuckles and says with an offended frown, "Idiot! Stop making silly comments."

Even though Mizuno knows it's not true, his stomach sinks a little when he notices the way she reacted when Shige suggested that they were a couple.

_Is it that embarrassing to be with me?_

Suddenly, he didn't feel much like celebrating anymore.


	2. If I take the leap of courage

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's notes: I apologise greatly for the lack of updates, I have been busy with everything that is going on in real life. I hope that I didn't make Mizuno too angsty. As always, thanks for the all the reviews.

* * *

**ii.**

Mizuno is seventeen when he first realises that he is in love with Kojima.

He wasn't sure when or how it happened, but he'd long succumbed to the fact that his feelings for Kojima were out of his control. So, he'd just allowed nature to take its course after they graduated from Sakura Jyosui; thinking that he would outgrow his crush.

But apparently, Mother Nature liked to screw around with his love-life. Instead of diminishing feelings that he'd expected, it seemed to grow exponentially until one fine morning, he had woken up with the revelation that, yes, he is definitely in love.

After Sakura Jyosui, he and Kojima had drifted apart due to the fact that they both went to different classes and were too busy with their after-school activities; Mizuno with the boys' soccer club and Kojima with the girls'. Their relationship had been reduced to polite smiles in the hallways on most days.

On the rare occasions that they do have conversations, it was always strained and awkward.

Mizuno tried, he really did, to tell her but every time he attempted to, something about her (her hair, her face, her lips) just makes his throat close-up in panic and his brain disconnects from his mouth.

He supposed that he should be thankful that Kojima remains oblivious to his pathetic attempts to confess. Her reaction to his stammering is always the same; a kind smile and an attempt to move the conversation to a different subject.

If the daily love letters from different girls overflowing his shoe lockers were of any indication, Mizuno knows that he is one of the more popular boys in school. So, when confessing to Kojima did not work out, he tried moving on.

He went on group dates (mostly with Shige and _his_ throng of fan girls). It was almost impossible for him to move on because he would not… no, _could not_ stop comparing the girls to Kojima.

Thus, Mizuno decided, after the fifth failed date, he shall resign to his fate that the only girl that he wants Kojima and no one else.

* * *

Mizuno politely rejected the (what seems like) umpteenth girl that had confessed to him in the day. When petite girl apologised and ran away with tears in her eyes, he sighed to himself.

"You really should stop making girls cry, Tatsu-bon," Shige teased good-naturedly.

Mizuno replied with an annoyed grunt, "It is graduation day. They are bound to cry."

With exaggerated hand gestures, Shige proclaimed spiritedly, "Precisely! It's Graduation today, that's why the poor, cute girls are taking a leap of courage by confessing to the boys that they like!"

"What are you? The relationship expert?" Mizuno muttered under his breath. But Shige had a point.

Graduation marked the end of their high school lives. Beyond that, a scary world awaited them; some of them will be heading off to university and the others will be entering the workforce. Either way, today is the last day of a carefree life.

Shige's question jolted Mizuno out of his reverie. "What about you Tatsu-bon? Are you going to take a leap of courage today too?"

"What leap of courage?" Mizuno asked through feigned ignorance; he knew exactly what Shige meant.

"Ah. Nevermind," Shige shook his head and flashed him a bright smile, "Now if you'd excuse me, I am off to find of your heartbroken admirers to comfort."

After Shige took off, Mizuno finally came to a decision. His fingers slowly clenched into a fist.

_What is there to lose?_

* * *

Mizuno stands outside the girls' soccer club-room feeling slightly dizzy from the adrenaline. Even with the closed doors, he could recognise Kojima's hearty laugh and his stomach did flip-flops.

As he raised his hands to knock on the door, a familiar voice called out after him.

"Mizuno-senpai!"

"Kazamatsuri!" Mizuno said, his eyebrows raised high in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

Sho blushed deeply and averted his eyes from Mizuno's as he mumbled incoherently under his breath.

Puzzled at Sho's reactions, Mizuno asked him to speak out.

"I am here to see Kojima-san. We are meeting up for dinner," Sho answered, still with a slight blush on his face.

_Oh._

"What are you doing here, senpai?" Sho asked innocently.

Mizuno raked his brains for a good excuse.

"To congratulate Kojima on graduating," Mizuno answered softly, fists clenched at his sides.

Clueless as to what was going on in Mizuno's head, Sho pressed on. "Hey, maybe you can join us for dinner?"

Forcing a smile, Mizuno tried to reply as cheerily as possible, "No, no… that's alright. I wouldn't want to get in the way."

Sho blushed again. As if on cue, Kojima came out of the clubhouse, seemingly surprised to see the two boys having a conversation.

"Mizuno? What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to say congratulations on graduating," Mizuno says through gritted teeth, "Well anyway, I have to go. Bye."

Mizuno turned quickly on his heels and walks as fast as he possibly can to the courtyard where he knows that he can be alone. He hears her call out his name but he ignores it.

In his mind, he still sees Sho's blushes and the words "We are meeting up for dinner" kept ringing in his ears. Mizuno clenched his fists so hard the knuckles turned white.

_Well_, he tells himself as he made his way out of the school main gate, _at least after today, you never have to see her again_.

Somehow, instead of comforting him, the thought of never seeing Kojima again made him sick to the stomach.


	3. If I weren't a friend

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's notes: I hope that you have enjoyed this so far. Thanks for the reviews. Rated for under-aged drinking.

With regards to the character names, I have decided to use their family names to write this fic as that is what they call each other most of the time in the anime. It just sounds _right_, to me anyway.

* * *

**iii.**

Mizuno is nineteen when Kojima makes it into Japan's Under-20 Women's soccer team.

* * *

After high school graduation, Mizuno was certain that he would not see Kojima again. He'd been prepared for a fresh new start in a well-respected University not far away from his home.

Unfortunately, fate always has a way of messing around with him.

Mizuno remembers the day like it was yesterday. He had been late for his first lecture and being the first day of classes, all the seats were taken except for one right at the back. He made his way through grumbling students to take his seat, face flushed red with embarrassment as the lecturer stared at him.

Too engrossed in the lecture, his attention was interrupted when his neighbour pushed a slip of paper towards him.

"'Hello stranger'," he read off the paper silently, noting that the writing was girlish but looked familiar.

Slightly annoyed at the interruption, he ignored the note and turned his attention back to the lecture. A few moments passed before another note appeared in front of him again.

Mizuno let out an irritated sigh and turned to his side to give his neighbour a good piece of his mind.

What he saw nearly made him fall out of his chair.

"Kojima?"

The grin was unmistakeably her.

"Would you like to have some coffee after class?" she asks with the grin that he had not seen for a long time.

He smiles for the first time in months.

* * *

They'd spent hours talking, as if catching up on lost time from their high school years. It was as if they had gone back to the comfortable friendship they had shared in Sakura Jyosui.

Sometimes Mizuno doesn't know if he should be happy about that.

* * *

When Kojima makes it into the Under-20 squad, Shige organised an impromptu celebration (read: unannounced party at Mizuno's house).

Mizuno allows him to do so for once because Kojima says she wants to celebrate and who is he to refuse anything she asks for?

"You are such a great friend," Kojima says and Mizuno's heart sinks a little.

* * *

"Shige! What is this?!" Kojima gestured angrily at the bottles of sake that he'd brought.

"I have nothing to do with this," Mizuno states before she assumes he took part in the whole fiasco.

Shige gave her a foxy grin and laughed heartily. "Oh come on! It's your special occasion. You should at least have one!"

"No," she refused flat-out.

Not giving up, Shige waved a cup of sake in front of her face. "Here."

Kojima pushes his hands away.

Shige turns to Mizuno for support. "Tatsu-bon… help me convince Miss Uptight here to live a little."

Mizuno shrugs and nudges Kojima with his elbow. That was enough persuasion for her to cave in to Shige's pleads.

"Fine. Just one though!"

It all went downhill from there.

* * *

It turns out that Kojima was not one to hold her alcohol well.

"Mizuno, Mizuno," she taps him on his shoulders repeatedly.

"What?"

Making a series of exaggerated hand movements, Kojima slurred, "Light's sc-hure are puh-retty."

"Here," Mizuno says, handing her a glass of water. She knocks it out of his hands clumsily.

"Oops," Kojima giggles.

Shige stands at the doorway observing her and chuckles. "Kojima, you are a horrible drinking partner."

Mizuno eyes him critically. "We shouldn't even be drinking."

Shige shrugged nonchalantly and packed up the rest of his alcohol. "Well, anyway, I shall leave her in your care."

"Eh?"

"The night is still young, Tatsu-bon," Shige winks cheekily as he left the house.

Mizuno had to resist all temptation to throw a sake bottle into Shige's head.

* * *

By the time Mizuno cleaned up the living room, Kojima was already slumped on the table fast asleep. He prods her gently and she stirs but not waking up.

Sighing to himself, he places her arms around his neck for leverage and lifts her up. Mizuno grunts with effort as he carries her to the couch a couple of feet away. Despite appearances, Kojima was not as light as she seemed.

_Few more steps_, he tells himself.

Not paying attention to his steps, Mizuno stumbles and falls. It was a good thing that the couch was close enough for him to fall onto.

It took some time before he realised that in the process of falling down, it had placed him on top of Kojima, their noses just inches away from touching.

Alarm bells began to ring in his head and he pulled back instinctively.

Unfortunately, it was the same moment that Kojima chose to tighten her arms around him.

He choked; half out of fear and half out of the fact that she had quite a grip around him. She must've heard the choking noise because a few heartbeats later, her eyes shot wide open and her grip loosened.

"Um," Mizuno tries explaining but the closeness was making his face burn, "This isn't what it looks like."

Kojima smiles drunkenly back at him, her face still flushed from the alcohol and her eyes bright. "C'mere," she slurred as she leaned forward into his lips.

Mizuno's eyes widened in shock and he rolled off her quickly, falling onto the floor with a thud.

When he'd finally got up, Kojima had fallen back into a deep alcohol-induced slumber again. Mizuno stood still and tried composing his thoughts.

He feels a smile growing on his face when he studies the contours of her sleeping features. Mizuno kneels down on the couch next to Kojima and brushes her hair out of her face tenderly.

He whispers; directed more to himself than to her, "Now is not the right time. But if we do kiss, I want you to remember it as a proper one, not some drunken mistake."


	4. If I say goodbye

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's Notes: In case you are wondering, the FIFA Women's U-20 World Cup really does exist! It used to be U-19 but FIFA raised the age limit to 20 for the 2008 tournament in Chile.

I picked Germany (which is fact the host for the 2010 cup) because it's convenient.

(Thank you, Wikipedia!)

* * *

**iv.**

Mizuno is twenty when Kojima leaves for Germany to play in the FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup.

* * *

Once again, Shige took the liberty to organise her going away party in Mizuno's house. After the incident from Shige's last party, Mizuno had banned any forms of alcohol in his house (much to Shige's displeasure).

She was the guest of honour of the night. The guests surrounded her and showered her with praise and congratulations. Kojima's face was flushed red with happiness and there was a perpetual grin on her face.

Mizuno has never seen her so happy; it makes cleaning the mess after the party worth it.

* * *

The night before her departure, his finds himself standing on her doorstep with the present he'd bought for her; a miniature soccer ball keychain. Mizuno feels his finger trembling as he reached for the doorbell.

He fidgets nervously and tries to breathe normally to calm is thumping heart down as he waits for her to open the door.

"Mizuno-senpai?"

"Kazamatsuri?"

_Of course it's him_.

Mizuno swallowed the lump of disappointment in his throat and plastered a friendly smile on his face. "Is Kojima around?"

Sho shuffles his feet on the ground and checks over his shoulder before answering in a hushed voice, "She's busy with her packing."

"Oh," Mizuno says.

"Do you want me to get her for you?" Sho asks kindly, but Mizuno can tell from his expression that he doesn't really want to bother Kojima.

Shaking his head, Mizuno answered, "No. That's alright. It wasn't anything important anyway."

Sho seemed visibly relieved.

The two boys stand in awkward silence for a few moments before Mizuno hands him the keychain. "I was just around the neighbourhood and thought I might drop this off for her. Do you mind passing it over to Kojima?"

Taking it out of Mizuno's hands carefully, Sho stares at the keychain with a small smile on his face. "No problem, senpai! I am sure she will like it."

"Well," Mizuno waved, "I will leave you to it. See you."

Hands suddenly feeling empty, Mizuno shoved them into his pocket and sighed.

* * *

Kojima finds him on the slopes near the river that night, to his surprise. She takes a seat next to him silently and smiles.

"How did you find me here?" he asks in amazement.

"After I finished packing," she explains, "I went to your house but there was no one home. I just assumed that you were going to be here."

"Ah," he says knowingly, "I thought it is a nice night to be out so I decided to come out here."

Kojima nods in agreement.

"So, what are you doing here?" Mizuno enquires, "Shouldn't you be preparing to go to the airport tomorrow?"

She grins at him but did not answer his question. They sat together, a few inches apart, and enjoyed the cooling breeze.

"I saw you play soccer here for the first time," Kojima says suddenly.

Mizuno turns to her, surprised, "Eh?"

"Mm, it was in intermediate school, I think. I was on my way home from school and you were juggling the ball by yourself over there with this determined look on your face," she reminisced with a smile.

He nods silently; when he was younger, he used to come out here by his own, away from his father, away from the rules and spent hours trying to juggle the ball.

"How come you never said anything about that?"

Kojima went on, as though she has not heard his question, "I thought to myself, 'Wow, this boy sure looks cool. I want to play soccer just like him'. So, I did."

Mizuno was dumbfounded, he didn't know how to reply her so he just looked on, waiting for her to finish her story.

"Thank you," she whispers quietly.

"Um, you are welcome?" he responded unsurely.

She laughs heartily at his confounded expression. "Well, thank you for that and also for your gift. I love it."

He nods mutely; but his heart soared with happiness.

Standing up to brush the grass on her pants, she pats his shoulders a few times and flashed him a large grin. "I have to go now, but I will see you at the airport tomorrow?"

"Definitely," Mizuno replies with an equally toothy grin.

* * *

Mizuno hung around the back of the crowd, waiting for his turn to see her.

All of Kojima's friends and family had turned up that morning to say their goodbyes. Kojima was taking her time; talking to them and hugging them. Mizuno shuffled his feet restlessly as he waited.

When she finally got to him, he said the first thing that came to mind, "You'd better win it."

"Of course!" she replies confidently and hugged him. Mizuno's heart thump so loud he thought she could almost hear it.

When she pulled back, he realises that his arms are still around her. There was a terse silence as they stared at each other.

His brain was practically screaming at him to kiss her.

_This is the moment you fool! Do it!_

Her unsure voice broke that train of thought. "Um, Mizuno…"

Mizuno feels the blood rushing to his face in embarrassment as he quickly jumped back. "Well," he says, rubbing the back of his neck with his hands, "Good luck."

Kojima shot him an incomprehensible look and grinned widely.

She lifted her bag on her shoulders and waved at the crowd at the departure gate. A chorus of "Byes", "Good luck" and "See you!" ran throughout.

And then she was gone.

Mizuno felt the smile on his face grow larger by the minute as he waved back; hanging from her bag was the soccer keychain he gave her.

He thinks that maybe…_maybe_ he has a chance after all.


	5. Closure

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's notes: Final chapter. A wee bit longer than the other chapters because it is a special occasion!

I hope that you have all enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you for the support, I greatly appreciate it.

* * *

**v.**

"Tatsu-bon, let's go!"

Mizuno nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise when Shige barged into his room shouting like a mad man.

"Shige, shut up. I am trying to watch the game," Mizuno snapped as he turned his attention back to the screen, trying to catch a glimpse of Kojima. Japan was playing China in the semi-finals and was leading 2-0 with five minutes left on the clock.

"Hey!" Mizuno protested when Shige stepped in front of the television and turned it off, "What are you doing, you idiot?"

Shige took several menacing steps and pulled Mizuno on his feet with only one hand.

"We are going to the airport," Shige says like it is the most obvious thing in the world.

Mizuno looked at him dumbstruck. "What for?"

"To see Kojima."

"Eh?"

* * *

Mizuno was in a daze the whole way to the airport. Shige was no help to clear his confusion as his lips remained tightly shut from the moment they walked into the cab.

"Mizuno-senpai! Shige-san!"

Now, he is _really_ confused. "What the hell is going on? Kazamatsuri? What are you doing here?"

Shige wasted no time for answers, he pushed Mizuno to the check-in counter and deposited a ticket in his front pocket.

"Go see her and tell her how you feel. You can pay me back for the ticket later!" Shige says.

Speechless with surprise, Mizuno gaped at Shige.

"Good luck Mizuno-senpai!" Sho greeted him good-naturedly.

Still extremely bewildered by the whole exchange, Mizuno turned to Sho,

"Kazamatsuri, why are you doing this?"

"Why would I not do this?" Sho asked with a puzzled expression.

"Because, you and Kojima…are…are…," he hesitated, "um…going out?"

Sho turned beet red. "Only for a while. Not anymore though," he denies vehemently.

Then he shoots Mizuno an encouraging smile, "She was hung up on someone else."

Mizuno feels as though a large weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He stares unsurely at the tickets and back at the Shige's and Sho's smiles.

It didn't take him long to reach his decision; he had been dancing around this issue with Kojima for nearly five years and it would be time for closure.

* * *

"You know, for a smart guy, Tatsu-bon is pretty dense."

A grin and a nod.

* * *

As he sat in the stands cheering Japan on, Mizuno suddenly realised that it is the first time he has seen Kojima play live.

The score was 1-1.

It was a tense moment in the stadium; United States had been on the offence and only two minutes remaining on the clock. The weather did not help as it was wet and windy.

Mizuno sees her now. She was chasing after the mid-fielder and caught up pretty quickly. He smiles secretly to himself; he'd always known that she was fast.

The mid-fielder, a head taller than her and probably weighed twenty pounds more, tried side stepping but Kojima wasn't fooled. She took the ball out of the opponent's control and kicked it up field.

The Japanese supporters cheered as the accurate pass fell right into the feet of the Japan striker.

The game flow has changed.

* * *

_Peet!_

The shrill whistle from the English referee marked the end of the game.

Japan had won the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup for the first time. The crowd went wild, Mizuno included.

The players returned to the bench, cheering and giving each other hearty pats on the back.

Mizuno would have spotted the familiar grin from a mile away.

"KOJIMA!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Unfortunately the crowd drowned his voice out. He shouted again and again until his voice was hoarse.

* * *

Before he knew what he was doing, it was as if his body had moved instinctively to climb over the face onto the field. His legs burned as he sprinted towards the team of Japanese players.

Two burly German security guards yelled after him but he doesn't hear it. All he thought about was to get to Kojima.

When he finally got to the players' bench he had to wade through the other players to her and the security guards were fast approaching.

"Kojima!" he called out and she turned around, eyes wide with shock.

It must be Mizuno's unlucky day as he felt someone grabbing his arms roughly; the security guards had caught up with him. They started pulled him away but he kept squirming to try to get free from their tight hold.

"Kojima!" he yells again as security dragged him further from her.

He sees her running towards them and gesturing to the two security guards to let him go. They reluctantly obliged. Mizuno stumbles but Kojima's arms caught him before he hit the ground.

"Mizuno?" she says, puzzled, "Is that really you?"

Kojima's hands dances across his face as if trying to verify that he is in fact, real.

He nods mutely and she lets out a bubbly laugh. "It is you!"

Mizuno knows she is muddy and sweaty but he doesn't care. He pulls her into a tight hug, burying his hands in her hair.

They stayed like that for a few moments before she pulled back to look at him again.

Tears of happiness brimming in her eyes, she gasps, "What are you doing here? All the way from Japan!"

Mizuno opens his mouth to tell her that he came here to see her; that he wants to be with her, but the familiar choking feeling overcame him. "I came here to…to…"

She looks at him with hopeful eyes but Mizuno just couldn't finish his sentence. So he did what any desperate man would do; a desperate measure. He tilts his head forward and plants his lips on hers.

He'd half expected her to sucker punch him but to his surprise (and delight), he felt her grabbing hold of his collar and returning his kiss with equal amount of desperation.

He hears her team mates cheer and wolf-whistle, but he didn't care. Tightening the hold on her waist, Mizuno deepened the kiss.

When they finally pulled apart for air, Mizuno places his forehead against her and sighs with relief. He studies her flushed face; a streak of mud going down on one side and her hair plastered to her forehead with sweat, but to him, she'd never looked more beautiful.

He whispers to her with a smile, "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."

Kojima leans in to kiss him again.

Mizuno feels her grinning into his lips. "Well," she says softly, "What took you so long?"


End file.
